# checkmate

Pronunciation: say "CHEK-mayt" /ˈt͡ʃɛkmeɪt/

## Noun

1. In chess, the conclusive victory reached when a player's king is under attack and has no legal move to avoid capture.
   - Simple: In chess, the winning move that traps the other player's king so it cannot escape capture.
   - _Her bishop and queen combined to deliver checkmate before the hour was up._
   - _A sudden checkmate ended the tournament's longest match._
3. A hopeless predicament that offers no way out: complete, inescapable defeat.
   - Simple: A situation where you have lost completely and cannot escape or fix things.
   - _The merger left their rivals facing checkmate._
   - _With every exit blocked, the negotiators knew it was checkmate._

## Verb

2. In chess, to maneuver an opponent's king into a position of unavoidable capture, ending the game in victory.
   - Simple: In chess, to trap the other player's king so that the game is won.
   - _He checkmated the champion with a daring queen sacrifice._
   - _You can checkmate a careless player by seizing the center early._
4. To maneuver someone into a position of total defeat from which there is no escape.
   - Simple: To trap someone in a losing situation they cannot get out of.
   - _Their bold strategy checkmated the competition within a year._
   - _A single leaked memo can checkmate an entire campaign._

## Interjection

5. Called out by a chess player when making the move that wins by trapping the opponent's king.
   - Simple: Said out loud in chess to announce the move that wins the game.
   - _"Checkmate," she said quietly, ending the long game._
   - _The boy slapped down his bishop and shouted, "Checkmate!"_
6. An exclamation of triumph used when one has cornered another person in an inescapable defeat.
   - Simple: Said when you have completely beaten someone and they have no way out.
   - _"Checkmate," the detective said, presenting the evidence that ended the suspect's denials._
   - _With the last argument demolished, she leaned back and said, "Checkmate."_

## Origin

Checkmate came through Middle English "chekmat" from Old French "eschec mat," itself from Arabic "šāh māta," which came from Classical Persian "šāh māt," meaning "the king [is] amazed."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/checkmate (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).